Safety

Video: Autopiloted Tesla Rear-Ends Fire Truck

Two federal safety agencies have opened investigations into why a Tesla Model S — which the driver said was operating in “Autopilot” mode — plowed into a fire truck parked on the side of a Los Angeles-area freeway, according to Reuters and Bloomberg reports.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will conduct separate probes of the Jan. 22 crash, focusing primarily on the performance of the car’s advanced driver-assistance systems and the driver’s actions. The collision occurred while Culver City firefighters were assisting with the cleanup of an earlier crash on the 405 Freeway.

Though the Tesla Model S was traveling 65 mph, nobody was injured in the crash, according to a tweet that the Culver City Firefighters union sent out shortly after the accident.

A Tesla Model S in Autopilot — or semi-autonomous — mode uses advanced driver assistance systems, but still falls well short of industry criteria for what’s considered a fully automated vehicle. The driver, according to Tesla, still needs to be fully attentive.

This isn’t the first time a crash involving a Tesla in Autopilot mode has drawn federal scrutiny.

Last September, NTSB ruled that the probable cause of a 2016 fatal crash involving a Tesla Model S 70D was a truck driver’s failure to yield the right of way and the Tesla driver’s “inattention due to over-reliance on vehicle automation.” Months earlier, NHTSA had also concluded that the Tesla sedan had no safety defects that contributed to the deadly collision in Florida.

If NHTSA’s probe into the California crash uncovers a vehicle safety defect, the agency can direct Tesla to issue a safety recall to resolve the problem.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has implemented an interim rule to facilitate the removal of defective Takata airbag inflators from vehicles and prevent those in scrap vehicles from being reused.

Ford Motor Co. is recalling approximately 38,000 2018 Expedition and Lincoln Navigator large SUVs with second-row center bench seats because they may be missing J-channel reinforcement brackets in the seat rack assembly.

General Motors vehicles equipped with automatic braking and forward collision warning saw 43% fewer police-reported front-to-rear crashes when compared to similar vehicles that aren't equipped with front crash prevention technology, according to a new IIHS study.

Retrofitting older vehicles with a collision warning system and a telematics device can significantly improve driver behavior and enhance safety, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reminding vehicle owners and drivers, as well as fleet managers, to check for open recalls on their vehicles. Recalls that remain unaddressed are a safety risk, according to the agency.